What is your church doing to help parents? Are you doing enough? Do you occasionally offer a marriage enrichment course? Could you do more? Pastors know how to prepare sermons but usually have little or no training in family ministry. Rhetoric alone doesn’t build healthy families. Parents need pastors to spend time with them. Families […]
What pastors should know about parents. The 2022 Orange Report produced with Parent Cue reveals that more than fifty percent of Christian parents feel that their church could be more supportive of their parenting. About fifty percent of parents also say that pastors/clergy don’t understand the realities of their lives or value them as parents. […]
There’s a disturbing dysfunction in the body of Christ – a pastor/parent disconnect. Research identifies that “congregations and families are not collaborating adequately in children’s faith formation,” that “many churches are not explicit in their support of parents as children’s faith formers,” and that “many churches are uncertain about how to support family faith … […]
What does the Bible say about children? “Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him” Psalm 127:3 (NLT). This well-known verse encapsulates the fact that children are a precious blessing from God. It should, therefore, come as no surprise to discover that children are both present and prominent throughout the […]
Partnering is a two-way street. So, I’m in two minds about the title – either “How to partner with parents” or “How to partner with pastors.” Both titles are equally valid concerning the content of this article, and both invite us to consider how pastors (church/congregation) and parents (legal guardians) can cooperate in children’s faith […]
Family ministry in the Bible. What does the Bible say about family ministry? “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you” Exodus 20:12. The above verse from the Ten Commandments may be one of the best-known verses concerning families. Yet noticeably, it doesn’t mention the word “family.” […]
Questions without answers. Cultivating family faith … I remember when I heard about the Hemorrhaging Faith report and discovered that only one in three Canadian young adults who attended church weekly as a child still do so today. Half of the young adults who no longer attend church have also stopped identifying themselves with the […]
Is your church intergenerational – where young and old worship, pray, serve, eat, sing, play, and live for Jesus together? Or are the different age groups mainly confined to age-segregated programs and activities? Professors Holly Allen and Christine Ross believe intergenerational communities are crucial and catalytical for the health and growth of children and adults: […]
There’s no magic bullet for successful children’s ministry, but there are ways to significantly improve what you’re doing. Here are ten ways to strengthen children’s ministry: 1. Cast a compelling vision. To envision is to imagine, plan beforehand, or ponder the possibilities. What has God placed in your heart and mind? People need to know […]
While educators, psychologists, academics, and others have much to say about children, God’s Word should be foundational for understanding who children are and why we should care for them. Here’s a basic theology of children expressed as ten fundamental truths: Children are a gift from God. “Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a […]
